On the Same Page
by Rosa Cotton
Summary: Finding one's way from friendship to more-than-friends can often have its bumps and stumbles. AU.


Disclaimer: _The Lord of the Rings_, all characters, places, and related terms are the sole property of J.R.R. Tolkien's estate.

Author's Note: Set in the same universe as _Engagements at a Young Age._

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On the Same Page

Eyes squeezed shut, heads moved slowly forward, only to jolt back in surprise when noses bumped unexpectedly against each other.

"Sorry…?" Eowyn mumbled questioningly, blinking.

"Was my fault," Aragorn claimed with a shake of his head.

Wordlessly she nodded and waited. This was after all _his_ idea— She snapped to the present when his rough hand touched the side of her face gently, and she met his thoughtful gaze.

"If you tilt your head a little to the side maybe," he suggested.

She allowed him to guide her head a little to the left while he tilted his the opposite way, and watched with growing nervousness as his face drew closer towards her until he grew blurry in her vision. Eowyn almost jerked back in surprise when his lips found hers this time. For a seemingly endless moment they stood frozen. Then Aragorn's hand moved from her flushed cheek up into her golden hair as he gently pressed his lips against hers, and brought his other hand up to the middle of her back. Eowyn's shock subsided as her eyes fluttered shut. Hesitantly she shyly kissed him back, and unconsciously her hands came to rest lightly on his chest. Aragorn sighed against her lips, a dreamy sigh it seemed to the girl, and her eyes flew open. Reality came crashing down; this was her _friend _and she…

In one movement she broke the kiss roughly, in another she slipped out of the boy's grasp before he was aware where she was at, and started walking rapidly down the hall.

"You will be fine…nothing to worry about!" she called reassuringly over her shoulder in a slightly breathless voice.

She fled only a few steps more before her arm was caught, halting her escape. Tugging to get free, she sighed in self-suffering when this failed before reluctantly turning to face Aragorn. Eowyn looked up into his grey eyes which regarded her with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. She swallowed thickly.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a slight smile playing over his lips.

She narrowed her eyes, silently cursing him for his calmness and nonchalance. "Leaving," she stated, emphasizing the word with another tug to be able to carry it out. Except his grip tightened, keeping her in place. She scowled in turn at his hand and face.

His smile slipped away and his dim eyes observed her. "Why?" He suddenly gave more of the impression of a little boy who had lost his puppy than as a nearly-twenty-year-old soon-to-be-crowned king.

"Because," Eowyn answered with calm patience she did not feel (and just managed to resist rolling her eyes), "I am no longer needed. You will be fine. Arwen be pleased with her kiss. And you two shall live happily ever after, fool." She smiled brightly.

The frown which had been growing on Aragorn's face relaxed. "Have not been called that in a while… Last time you called me a fool, like every other time I think, was because of some incident concerning Arwen and I," he mused, "I wondered if you called me that was because you were possibly jealous."

Eowyn's eyes widened. "Let me go!" she demanded loudly, blushing furiously, pulling hard to get away from his unrelenting grip.

Aragorn plowed on, ignoring her order and placing his other hand on her shoulder to keep her facing him. "Then I dismissed the idea, because why should you? I liked you, and I believed my feelings were requited. There was not any reason for you to be jealous. Not when I thought I had been terribly obvious from the very beginning about who was responsible for me having my head in the clouds. And it wasn't Arwen."

Dead silence. Stretching on…

"And now—"

"I will thank you not to continue," Eowyn interrupted with a serious shake of her head, feeling more off balance than she desired to reveal, and squashing the budding wonder, hope that had risen at his words. "Speaking in such a way you— I shouldn't have agreed to your request, the kissing, and I am not even your intended."

"Arwen is not my intended!" Aragorn objected tensely.

"Not yet." She gave him a pointed look.

He let her go, pacing away from her before throwing up his hands. "I don't want to marry her!" his said exasperated, facing her again.

She shook her head, the fight going out of her, replaced by wariness. "Could have fooled me," she muttered. "The way Legolas made things sound in his letters…"

"He wrote you?" Aragorn said in a strange tone, stiffening.

"Oh, yes! You, naturally, have been far too busy here in Rivendell these last three years to spare a thought for poor little Eowyn."

"Don't jest." While he spoke quietly, his tone was grave, and his eyes darkened with disproval. His hands clenched into fists and he took a step towards her.

"It is how the elves speak of me. You know it. 'Little Eowyn of the Wild Things.'" She turned her head away so he would not see the hurt expression she could not conceal.

"Who is brave, noble, loyal, beautiful, and climbs trees," he responded, a new gentle note in his voice as he strode to stand before her. "You know, in the beginning it was 'my Eowyn.'" Pink tinged his cheeks.

"I know," she spoke in a quiet voice. "But things change." She determinedly met his gaze.

"Aye." His gaze tenderly swept over her face. His lips twitched. "But not all things," he sighed.

Eowyn went still, an uncertain frown furrowing her brow. Gently a kiss was laid on her forehead, smoothing away the wrinkles.

Pulling back, Aragorn met her searching gaze. "I never got over my fondness of climbing trees."

"Oh, really?" she replied, an unbidden smile spreading across her face at his firm nod. She allowed him to draw her arm through his and walk them down the hall.

"Aye. And I believe we have much to discuss…," Aragorn trailed off, smiling boyishly.

THE END


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